Multimedia apparatus receiving audio-visual broadcast

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a transmission reception multimedia apparatus ( 20 ) comprising a circuit for communication ( 9, 8, 10, 3, 7 ) with means for connection to an audiovisual communication network ( 21 ) characterized in that it comprises:  
     a connector ( 11 ) of a bus for communication with a source apparatus ( 17 ) comprising at least one conductor (VBUS) for the transmission of a supply voltage providing by the source apparatus ( 17 );  
     means of detection ( 1 ) of the presence of the said supply voltage, the said means of detection ( 1 ) being linked to the connector ( 11 ), the said means of detection ( 1 ) generating, a detection signal on the appearance of the supply voltage, bound for the communication circuit ( 9, 8, 10, 3, 7 ), the said communication circuit ( 9, 8, 10, 3, 7 ) being linked to the means of detection, so as to switch via a switching circuit ( 3 ) the multimedia apparatus ( 20 ) from a first operating mode, termed standby, in which the communication circuit ( 9, 8, 10, 3, 7 ) has the minimum of active functions to a second operating mode, termed wakeup, in which the communication circuit ( 9, 8, 10, 3, 7 ) has its function of communication, between the connector ( 11 ) and the audiovisual network, activated, the switching being consequent upon the appearance of the bus supply voltage.

[0001] The present invention relates to an audiovisual transmissionreception multimedia apparatus which can, for example, be linked to apersonal computer. The audiovisual transmission reception multimediaapparatus can, for example, consist of a decoder or any other apparatusthat can be linked to a bi-directional cable network.

[0002] Most digital decoders for cable television network will beequipped with a return path. This return path will be used for functionsof interactivity between the user of the decoded audio video programmeand the operator of the television network.

[0003] Contemporary digital decoders, in order to comply with theEuropean standard in force, exhibit a low-consumption standby mode. Thisstate is attained when only the functions indispensable to the waking upof the multimedia apparatus are powered up. For example, the decoderthen in standby mode must be able to be woken up, in order to performthe recording of a television programme on a video recorder. This wakeupfunction is activated either via the remote control of the decoder, orvia the keypad of the front panel of the decoder. A signal transmittedby the remote control and received by the photoreceptor on the frontpanel of the decoder or activation of the keys of the keypad will causean interrupt on the keypad processor of the decoder, this being the onlyprocessor to remain active permanently and to monitor the interruptswhich may be caused by one of these two events. When such a processordetects such an event, it triggers the decoder wakeup mode whichrequires a sequence of a few seconds. Such a decoder cannot therefore beused as communication interface between a PC and an operator if it isnot provided with a device enabling it to be woken up.

[0004] A first aim of the invention is to provide an audiovisualtransmission reception multimedia apparatus, such as for example adigital decoder, with the necessary equipment to make it possible to gofrom a reduced operating mode, for example standby, to a normaloperating mode, allowing in particular the connection of a sourceapparatus, such as for example a computer, to the Internet.

[0005] This aim is achieved through the fact that the audiovisualtransmission reception multimedia apparatus comprises:

[0006] a circuit for communication with means of connection to anaudiovisual communication network,

[0007] a connector of a bus for communication with a source apparatuscomprising at least one conductor (VBUS) for the transmission of asupply voltage provided by the source apparatus;

[0008] means of detection of the presence of the said supply voltage,the said means of detection being linked to the connector, the saidmeans of detection generating a detection signal on the appearance ofthe supply voltage, bound for the communication circuit, the saidcommunication circuit being linked to the means of detection, so as toswitch via a switching circuit the multimedia apparatus from a firstoperating mode, termed standby, in which the communication circuit hasthe minimum of active functions to a second operating mode, termedwakeup, in which the communication circuit has its function ofcommunication, between the connector and the audiovisual network,activated, the switching being consequent upon the appearance of the bussupply voltage.

[0009] According to another feature, the connector is a client connector(11) of USB (Universal Serial Bus) type.

[0010] According to another feature, the switching circuit isconstituted by a first microprocessor of a means of control of themultimedia apparatus and of a programme for triggering the wakeupactions constituting the communication circuit wakeup sequence.

[0011] According to another feature, the means of control is a controlkeypad and/or a remote control receiver of the said multimediaapparatus, the said means of control being linked to an interrupt inputof the said first microprocessor.

[0012] According to another feature, the means of detection are linkedto an interrupt input of the first microprocessor receiving thedetection signal.

[0013] According to another feature, the first microprocessor is linkedto a general supply circuit of the multimedia apparatus so as toactivate the said supply circuit in response to the appearance of thedetection signal.

[0014] According to another feature, the means of detection consist ofan electronic breaker generating a voltage on one of the inputs of thefirst microprocessor.

[0015] According to another feature, the said apparatus comprises adigital television decoder, the said communication circuit comprising acircuit for connection to a bidirectional cable network.

[0016] According to another feature, the said apparatus comprises aninterface circuit matched to the type of connector linked to theinternal bus of the digital decoder linking a main processor of thedecoder to a return channel processor of the digital decoder, the saidreturn channel processor being linked, by an interface circuit to acable for linkage to the bidirectional cable network linking the digitaldecoder to the service of the server of the audiovisual operator.

[0017] According to another feature, the said apparatus comprises meansfor triggering the connection to the Internet through the service of theserver of the audiovisual operator.

[0018] Other features and advantages of the invention will become moreclearly apparent on reading the description below given with referenceto the appended drawings in which:

[0019]FIG. 1 represents a diagrammatic view of the wakeup deviceaccording to the invention;

[0020]FIG. 2 represents a diagrammatic view of the incorporation of thewakeup device into a decoder and the communication of this decoder withon the one hand a personal computer and on the other hand the cable ofthe audiovisual transmission broadcasting network.

[0021] A nonlimiting embodiment of the invention will now be describedwith FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0022] A personal computer (17) portable or otherwise is linked by acable (16) of USB (Universal Serial Bus) type to a USB connector (11)forming part of a decoder (20). The computer (20) here plays the role ofmaster of the USB bus. The computer is used here by way of exemplarysource apparatus, but any other electronic apparatus requestingconnection to an Internet network may also be used. The decoder (20) isgiven by way of exemplary multimedia apparatus with reduced operatingmode but the invention may be applied to any another type of multimediaapparatus for audiovisual transmission reception. The decoder (20) islinked to a specific cable for the digital television (14) which allows,via a service of the server (21) of the operator, connection to theInternet through the service of the server centre 21 of the audiovisualoperator. The benefit of such a system is to allow:

[0023] on the one hand a fast link with a bit rate of 12 megabitsbetween the personal computer and the decoder via the USB cable,

[0024] and on the other hand, by way of the cable (14) linking thedecoder to the service of the server (21) of the operator, a high bitrate link (several megabits per second) of the computer to the Internetnetwork.

[0025] This link is made possible with a minor modification of themultimedia apparatus, in the example given, of the decoder. This minormodification consists in a USB connector (11) whose input terminal(VBUS) is linked to a circuit (1) for detecting the voltage VBUS (thatis to say the USB bus supply voltage generated by the master) beingincorporated into the decoder. This circuit (1) belongs to a USBinterface circuit (9), which is linked to the input terminals (DATA+,DATA−) and to the earth of the USB connector (11). The output of thedetection circuit (1) is linked by a link (2) to an interrupt input of amicroprocessor (3) which is the microprocessor of the keypad of thedecoder and of the front panel. This microprocessor is linked by a link(4) to the main supply circuit (5) and by an I2C bus (12) to the mainprocessor (7). The main supply powers the main microprocessor (7).

[0026] This microprocessor (3) is the only one in the decoder to bepermanently active, even when the decoder re-enters standby mode. Itsuffices for the socket of the decoder to be connected to the powersupply network. Specifically, in the standby mode, only thismicroprocessor permanently monitors its inputs so as to detect signalstreated as interrupts representing:

[0027] either a signal providing from the keypad of the front panel ofthe decoder constituting an interrupt in respect of the microprocessor,

[0028] or a signal, produced by the photoreceptor (19) linked by a link(18) to the microprocessor (3), related to the transmission of a commandwith the aid of the remote control by the user.

[0029] According to the invention it is also used to detect an interruptrelated to the detection of the plugging in of a USB connector.

[0030] In another variant the microprocessor can permanently monitor itsdigital inputs (polling) so as to detect changes of states of the inputsand to perform the desirable processing.

[0031] While operational, the decoder, when via its microprocessor (3)it detects an interrupt, sends a signal via the link (4) to the decoderassembly main power supply which then powers (link (6)) the mainprocessor (7) so as to wake up the decoder functionalities necessary forthe commanded function. This functionality will allow the recording of aTV programme on the video recorder or the screening of a channelreceived by the decoder on the television or else the use of the decoderas a modem. For these applications of recording or of screening ofreceived channel, the main processor (7) talks to a bus (15) fortransporting digital, audio and video signals and the RF reception stage(13) of the decoder which is linked by a branch cable (14′) to theinput/output cable (14) of the decoder.

[0032] Depending on the type of command received by the processor (3),it will be sent via the link (12) of the I2C bus linking the front panelprocessor (3) to the main processor (7), which will process theinformation and will talk to the processor (10), across the processorbus (8) which links it to the return channel processor (10). Thisprocessor (10) is linked by an output interface to the cable (14) so asto allow interactivity between the operator and the user by transmissionand reception of digital data. The keypad or front panel microprocessor(3) is associated via its processor bus (31) with a memory, whichcontains a programme module (30) which manages the interrupts appearingon the lines (18) so as to trigger, as a function of these interrupts,the waking up of the decoder assembly. The exemplary embodiment of theinvention consists in adding along with the detection circuit (1) a line(2) at the output of the VBUS voltage detection circuit (1), this linebeing sent to a high-level interrupt input of the microprocessor (3) soas to trigger the execution of a programme module (32) performing theprocessing of this interrupt and carrying out, firstly the sending viathe line (4) of a signal for waking up the main power supply (5) of thedecoder then via the I2C bus (12), the sending of a command to the mainprocessor (7), so that the latter talks to the microprocessor (10) ofthe return channel through the processor bus (8) and so as to place thelatter on standby awaiting the arrival of signals on its bus (8)providing from the interface card (9) of the USB connector (11). Thus,the role of the interface circuit (9) will be to transform the protocolfor exchanging USB signals between the personal computer (17) and theinterface circuit (9) into a protocol for compatible communicationbetween the two (10) return channel and (7) main processors by way ofthe bus (8).

[0033] As may be seen in FIG. 1, the VBUS terminal of the USB connectoris linked to a common point (100), which is linked on the one handthrough a resistor (101) to earth and on the other hand to the base of aPNP transistor (106). The collector of the PNP transistor is linked toearth and its emitter is linked to the common point (107) and to aresistor (105), whose second end is linked to the VCC voltage supplypoint. The last common point (107) delivers the signal for detecting thepresence of the VBUS voltage on the line (2) which is linked to thehigher-level interrupt input of the microprocessor (3) of the frontpanel. The other elements of FIG. 2 are identical to those of FIG. 1 andare denoted by the same references. When the VBUS voltage is applied tothis component and attains a voltage of the order of 4.75 to 5.25 volts,this signifying that the USB cable of a switched-on and woken-uppersonal computer is connected to the connector (11) of the decoder, theBC857B transistor (106) turns on and the detection signal on the link(2) has a near-zero potential which corresponds to a zero logic level,this triggering the processing at the level of the microprocessor (3) ofan interrupt of high level type. This interrupt causes the waking up bythe programme module (32) of the part of the decoder necessary for theoperation of the circuits effecting the interface between the networkcable (14) and the USB cable (16). In the link between the computer (17)and the Internet network, the interface part (9, 10) of the decoderoperates in slave mode with respect to the personal computer (17), thissignifying that control signals in respect of interactive televisionfunctions providing from the remote control are, either momentarilyrendered inactive by the main processor (7) and a display controlled bythis processor (7) indicates to the user that the interactivity functionis interrupted following connection to the Internet, or themicroprocessor (7) carries out a multiplexing of these signals withthose providing from the personal computer (17). In the latter case, theUSB interface (9) incorporates an identifier into the signals providingfrom the USB bus and the main microprocessor (7) likewise incorporates adifferent identifier into the signals providing from the remote control,enabling the service (21) of the operator to distinguish between thesignals providing from the personal computer (17) and intended for theInternet link and those intended for producing modifications of theservices delivered, providing from the remote control. Thus the computerautomatically wakes up the decoder by activation of the voltage on theUSB bus, thereby making it possible to prepare a communication by way ofthe cable network.

[0034] It should be obvious to those skilled in the art that the presentinvention allows embodiments in numerous other specific forms withoutdeparting from the as-claimed field of application of the invention.Consequently, the present embodiments should be considered by way ofillustration but may be modified within the field defined by the scopeof the attached claims.

1. Audiovisual transmission reception multimedia apparatus (20)comprising a circuit for communication (9, 8, 10, 3, 7) with means forconnection to an audiovisual communication network (21) characterized inthat it comprises: a connector (11) of a bus for communication with asource apparatus (17) comprising at least one conductor (VBUS) for thetransmission of a supply voltage providing by the source apparatus (17);means of detection (1) of the presence of the said supply voltage, thesaid means of detection (1) being linked to the connector (11), the saidmeans of detection (1) generating, a detection signal on the appearanceof the supply voltage, bound for the communication circuit (9, 8, 10, 3,7), the said communication circuit (9, 8, 10, 3, 7) being linked to themeans of detection, so as to switch via a switching circuit (3) themultimedia apparatus (20) from a first operating mode, termed standby,in which the communication circuit (9, 8, 10, 3, 7) has the minimum ofactive functions to a second operating mode, termed wakeup, in which thecommunication circuit (9, 8, 10, 3, 7) has its function ofcommunication, between the connector (11) and the audiovisual network,activated, the switching being consequent upon the appearance of the bussupply voltage.
 2. Audiovisual transmission reception multimediaapparatus according to claim 1 characterized in that the connector is aclient connector (11) of USB type.
 3. Audiovisual transmission receptionmultimedia apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in thatthe switching circuit is constituted by a first microprocessor (3) of ameans of control of the multimedia apparatus and of a programme (32) fortriggering the wakeup actions constituting the communication circuitwakeup sequence.
 4. Audiovisual transmission reception multimediaapparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the means ofcontrol is a control keypad and/or a remote control receiver (19) of thesaid multimedia apparatus, the said means of control being linked to aninterrupt input of the said first microprocessor (3).
 5. Audiovisualtransmission reception multimedia apparatus according to one of claims 3to 4, characterized in that the means of detection (1) are linked to aninterrupt input of the first microprocessor (3) receiving the detectionsignal.
 6. Audiovisual transmission reception multimedia apparatusaccording to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that thefirst microprocessor (3) is linked to a general supply circuit of themultimedia apparatus so as to activate the said supply circuit inresponse to the appearance of the detection signal.
 7. Audiovisualtransmission reception multimedia apparatus according to claim 5,characterized in that the means of detection (1) consist of anelectronic breaker generating a voltage on one of the inputs of thefirst microprocessor (3).
 8. Audiovisual transmission receptionmultimedia apparatus according to one of the preceding claims,characterized in that the said apparatus comprises a digital televisiondecoder, the said communication circuit (3, 7, 8, 9, 10) comprising acircuit for connection (7, 8, 9, 10) to a bidirectional cable network.9. Audiovisual transmission reception multimedia apparatus according toclaim 8, characterized in that the said apparatus comprises an interfacecircuit (9) matched to the type of connector linked to the internal busof the digital decoder linking a main processor (7) of the digitaldecoder to a return channel processor (10) of the decoder, the saidreturn channel processor (10) being linked, by an interface circuit to acable for linkage (14) to the bidirectional cable network linking thedigital decoder to the service of the server (21) of the audiovisualoperator.
 10. Audiovisual transmission reception multimedia apparatusaccording to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the saidapparatus comprises means (3, 30) for triggering the connection to theInternet through the service of the server of the audiovisual operator.